Late night in the city.The hospital corridors had already quieted down: the occasional beep of machinery, the soft footsteps of the night staff, and the smell of antiseptic, ingrained in the walls. The intern, a young man of about twenty-three, with dull eyes and heavy breathing, adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and headed for the exit.
"Leaving later than everyone again?" — a calm voice came from the post.The night shift nurse, who saw him more often than her own colleagues, was sitting there.
"Yeah," he smiled faintly, trying to hide his fatigue. "If I stay even an hour longer, they'll have to admit me myself."
"Thank you for your work," she said quietly.
"And to you, good night," he replied, waving goodbye as he pushed through the glass door.
The night air greeted him with coolness. He absentmindedly pulled out his phone, swiped through a few notifications — and noticed a message about a new chapter of Eleceed.
"A new Eleceed chapter is out?" — he squinted in surprise. "Today's… Tuesday?.. Oh, no, it's already Wednesday."
He snorted.It wasn't that he particularly liked the manhwa. On the contrary: the plot was simple, even predictable, but that was precisely its charm. Eleceed was easy to read, without any unnecessary complications. Sometimes it even helped to take his mind off shifts like these.
All this time that Eleceed has been coming out, I've even managed to become an intern… huh.
The rain began to drizzle. He pulled out an umbrella and started walking home at a leisurely pace, lazily scrolling through page after page.
"Jiwoo's in trouble again…" — he frowned, reread the panel carefully, and even slowed his pace."Wait… this is the first time he actually lost?.."
The street was deserted, hardly any cars in sight. Crossing the pedestrian line, he stopped — exactly at the spot where, in the chapter, Jiwoo lost for the first time.
He frowned and suddenly realized he was standing in the middle of the road.Awkward.But there were still no cars.
He shrugged and stepped forward.And at that very moment, a bright flash tore across the sky.
Thunder. Flash.Lightning struck him directly.
The last thing he felt was the sharp smell of ozone, a sudden searing pain, and an absurd, utterly ridiculous thought:"What if I ended up in this manhwa?.. Not this! All those crazy awakened ones."
And his consciousness faded.